Rationality
by ShadeSlayerFox
Summary: He read once long ago that knowledge was power. Thus the simple proverb changed the course of history for the young prince.
1. Chapter 1

It was warm and humid in the palace and despite the youths heritage and upbringing he had always found himself annoyed by the heat and had often tried to be as far from it as possible. This was the reason that he found himself incapable to sleep that night and so, after numerous hours of struggling, tossing, and turning in his overly damp sheets. He huffed in annoyance as he sat up.

The lad quickly dressed and moved his way from the room into the halls until he finally found himself in front the small doors of the royal library. Tall and imposing shelves surrounded him from every side upon his entrance into it's dimly lit and narrow halls that were filled to the brim with knowledge of generations past.

He quickly foraged through the shelves as he looked for one of many scrolls that he hadn't already read. He may not have been the ultimate fire bending prodigy like his sister but he made up for it in memory retention. So in the dim confines of an isolated library the young crown prince of the fire nation read in peaceful silence.

:)

Zuko breathed deeply aboard his small fire nation frigate as his uncle watched on with patience as he slowly sipped from a warm cup of steaming tea. A small band of fire benders surrounded the prince. For a moment everything was still...and then the prince lunged forward with bright red flames surrounding his clenched fist as he threw himself at the least prepared of the group. The soldier in question hesitated in fear before he sent a blast of fire at the prince. It surrounded him and for a moment the soldier feared that he had killed him until the prince flew from the billowing flames unharmed and kicked the soldier in the chest who fell on his behind and flew across the deck where he collided against the railing with a loud clang as metal struck metal.

The other combatants stared at their Comrade in astonishment as he laid against the railings of the ship unconscious. Then they attacked the prince once more. It was a spar worthy of the greatest tapestries as the prince fought against his opponents with fluid grace as their flames did nothin to him as though he were truly one with the flame until he incapacitated all who had been courageous enough to fight the prince as his punching bags.

He stood victoriously as he stared down at his fallen men and sighed contentedly before he stepped over them towards his uncle who was busy pouring another glass of tea which he held out to the approaching prince who accepted it gratefully and sat next to the eating man.

"Your form is good Prince Zuko, but you must remember that fire can only be generated by intense emotion." Iroh spoke sternly but with deep understanding of his nephews condition. "I know uncle I just have difficulty summoning any anger..." Zuko replied sadly as he sipped his tea. "...do you think I'm right uncle. Do think the avatar is out here." Iroh looked at left side of his nephews face and sighed.

"What you say does make sense my nephew, if I were the avatar then I too would run to the isolated south to avoid our nation, but..." Suddenly without warning a beam of light pierced the sky and shrouded all who witnessed it with a dim glow. "...if I hadn't believed you before I sure do believe you now." Zuko didn't hear him though as he slowly approached the front of the ship with a triumphant smirk. "Helmsman, set course for the light." He ordered as one thought encompassed his mind. 'I was right.'

Meanwhile Iroh stared on with a look of shock and concern before he finally sighed and he pulled a small token from his pocket. "It's seems that he's back, I'll need to tell the others." He said to himself as he stared down at the small faded white lotus tile in his palm. Suddenly his body lunged forward as the helmsman changed course and the tile in his palm flew from his grasp and into the freezing waters below. Irohs eye twitched slightly as he realized he would need to get another tile when the opportunity allowed. He turned and stared at the slowly disappearing light and knew that destiny would do with them as it willed.


	2. Disembark

Zuko took a small sip of his herbal tea as moved one of his many tiles across the board which caused his uncle sweat slightly as he tried to think of an appropriate counter-strategy. He thought quickly but carefully as he moved a single causing his nephew to nod impressed. "Interesting, usually you'd have won by now but you're not using your lotus tile...odd." Zuko observed aloud causing the Iroh to chuckle nervously. "Well...I can't expect to beat you with the same trick forever you know." He said with a half truth as mentally slapped himself for losing the tile only a day before. Zuko nodded at the mans words before he turned and stared out the observation decks windows which allowed the sun to light his unblemished face.

Zuko said nothing as he considered that avatar might be long gone by now considering that almost a full day had vanished since the beam of light appeared. Tension had since coiled in his gut both in silent anticipation and trepidation at the thought of facing am avatar, especially one with over a hundred years experience at bending the elements...or at least some of them.

When Zuko had begun his exile in search of the avatar he'd realized that he had nearly no chance of him finding him or her let alone capturing them. Zuko in turn had to cut down on the possible locations that the avatar could be hiding, so he used the almighty concept of logic.

He had immediately disregarded the air temples because of his grandfather and his great grandfathers thorough searches in the past that had led to nothing but wasted time.

Second Zuko came to another conclusion that the avatar had not entered the earth kingdom or fire nation, since the genocide of nearly every Airbender, due to the lack of rumors concerning the avatar over the last. This led to two other assumptions that the avatar was in an isolated location and...that the avatar couldn't have possibly knew how to Earthbend or Firebend. This relieved the tremendously because while capturing an avatar would be an incredibly difficult task in and of itself, capturing a fully realized avatar would be impossible.

So with this theory in mind Zuko hypothesized that the avatar had to be in one of two locations. The Northern or Southern water tribes.

"Zuko!" Iroh finally yelled getting the princes attention and bringing him about the present. Zuko turned and blinked at the older man in surprise. "Yes Uncle." He answered quickly. Iroh chuckled loudly

"It seems that a my nephew has his mind set on a girl." He assumed wrongly and causing the prince to twitch slightly in annoyance.

"Uncle I've been at sea for almost three years with no contact with a woman." He explained as he grasped the bridge of his nose to ward off against the approaching headache. "Yeah, that's what I'm thinking about." He finished sarcastically

Suddenly a the sky lit up once more much like the day before. Instead of a beam of light being the source it was instead a distress flare from a nearby fire nation ship. Zuko stood quickly and grabbed a telescope off a nearby counter and focused on the flare through it. He eyed the flare for only a moment before followings it's smoke trail to its launch which was a trapped frigate that was stuck within the ice.

This however was not what garnered his interest. It was instead the small figure that was he could just barely see hopping from the side and rushing for the the ship to the West. He turned the magnifying device it said direction and found a small village.

A smirk formed on his face and he put the telescope down. He quickly turned to the helmsman and putted in the in the direction and the settlement and gave the order for him to change course before he rushed from the room to get his battle armor.

It was only a an hour before the prince emerged from his chambers garbed in dark metal battle armor as the helmsman slowed the water-craft several miles from the icy coast. He nodded to the man before turning to his uncle. "Is the transport ready to be deployed?" Iroh nodded quickly. "Good. If I'm not back in six hours then have the rest of the men move in." He finished before he exited the room and headed down to the lower decks where he depart to the southern water tribe.

:)

Sokka stood tense as he glared into the arctic fog in search for his approaching foe. His stance was rigid from atop his self constructed wall that had been made entirely by himself.

His gaze widened once he spotted it rapidly coming towards him. He tensed and stood his ground as i smacked him in the face. "Gah!" He snarled penguitross flew away calling as it went. Sokka grumbled as he stood.

He glared once more before he sighed and sat upon the snowy wall. Thats when he spotted the small metal craft as it approached quickly and stopped just inches from the ice. A large spike exploded from it and into the thin sheet thus anchoring it in place.

A pale male stepped from the craft with a small wooden box at his side and cast a glance over the landscape until it fell on him before it quickly changed back to the landscape. Sokka's eye twitched visibly once he realized that the other male had ignored him. He quickly grasped his boomerang and threw it at his target.

Fire nation warrior in a show of lightning fast reflexes snatched the weapon out the air pivoted and threw it back with rapid speed and precision. It smacked into Sokka's forehead with enough force to fall from his wall and smack into the village foundation and he saw stars as the breath was knocked out of him. The last thing he saw was Katara's and his Gran's worried expressions before he blacked out.

:)

Zuko sighed as he entered the small village. His mild irritation was concealed under a layer of apathy as he spotted what looked to the entire villages population congregated the edge of its wall. He shook his head at the open display which only caused him to wonder how the small...village had not been completely wiped out by raiders long ago. "Hello!" He called causing the majority to look back at him in shock and fear. "I come in peace! I just need some information!" He called as mentally smiled all the while 'this is going to be even easier than I expected.'


	3. Diplomat

He sat staring at the dark haired girl in front of him. An arrogant smirk was curled onto her face in an effort to intimidate the adolescent Zuko but he continued to stare at her apathetically. Her smirk only deepened as she moved a single pawn and took his queen. "You know you should just give up Zuzu." She sneered. "Hm..." Zuko said hardly paying attention to her as he moved his own pawn across the and taking another pawn. The girly confused as once more took another of his pieces. Zuko smirked as he moved his rook. "Checkmate" he declared causing the little girl to quickly examine the board and saw that his words were true. Her cheeks puffed in anger as she slapped the board to the side. Zuko didn't even blink as the girl stomped off. He shook his head as he sat up and grabbed the fallen board and its various pieces.

:)

Zuko silently observed the elder across from him. Her skin was leathery and wrinkled from exposure to the sun in the hazardous Arctic wasteland. She laboriously onto a mat and gave the firebender a small glare which the prince easily ignored to instead glance at the woman's granddaughter who easily matched her Grandmothers glare as she also sat. "What do you want from us firebender." Zuko chuckled slightly as the woman brushed aside any pleasantries and faced the main issue with an urgency; no doubt to get him to leave as quickly as possible.

"Information" he replied as he stared down at the sitting woman with a hint of exaggerated emphasis "I'm on a small quest. I'm looking for an Airbender." The younger woman flinched slightly; she knew exactly who he was talking about. Never the less Zuko continued. "I'm willing to give anything to anyone who can provide me even the slightest clue about his whereabouts." He finished as he cracked open the wooden box in his hands before he quickly closed it. Once more the girls eyes widened in shock...and desire as she spotted the small collection of water scrolls within its confines.

"Where did you get that?" She demanded, only for her grandmother to quickly silence her.

"Silence Katara!" The woman responded before her eyes immediately came to rest on the handsome prince. "I'm afraid there are no Airbenders here firebender...or anywhere for that matter; considering Fire Lord Sozin causing their genocide." She gritted out. Zuko nodded solemnly agreeing with her.

"Well then thank you for your time." He said courteously as he bowed to the woman. Her expression didn't change as the young Prince left the Igloo.

:)

Zuko stood at the edge his metal craft as it sat idly amongst the many icebergs several miles away from the small village. A spyglass was pressed against his eye as he observed it silently. A smirk crossed onto his lips as he watched a small figure rushing from the villages icy walls. 'I got you now Avatar.' He thought as went into the craft and fired up its engines as he slowly followed.

:)

Aang sighed as he scratched Appa's side. A sense of loneliness lingered in his soul as he contemplated what he should do and whether he should return to the Southern Air Temple.

"Aang!" A cry burst out, getting his attention. He looked towards the source of the noise and surprise crawled onto his face when he saw the blue coat and the brown hair.

"Katara!" He yelled down excitedly before leaping down from his hiding spotted to meet her. He landed down in front the girl. "How are..." He was cut off quickly

"You have to get out of here!" She said quickly "A Firebender came by the village looking for..." She was also quickly cut off a small Fire ball careened over their heads and against the ice. Appa growled as he landed and quickly extinguished the flame with a quick burst of air.

"Greetings Avatar!" The young prince said as he walked towards the group. Katara's eyes immediately widened as she stared at her newest friend.

"I will not lie. I had honestly expected someone much...older." Aang stared at him nervously. "No matter, I am Prince Zuko of the fire nation, and you are coming with me..." The prince spoke.

"No Aang don't!" Katara said to the Airbender as she moved to step between the two. Zuko gave the girl a glare before he once more directed his attention to the near adolescent boy.

"...if you don't then a platoon of Firebenders will burn a certain little village to the ground. Make you choice Avatar." Katara and Aang stared at the prince in horror. Aang looked towards Katara with a tender look. "Alright" he said to Zuko "i'll come with you."

A smirk rose onto Zuko's face. "I knew you'd see it my way."


	4. Confinement

Aang sat within the confines of the iron vessel. His limbs were tightly bound against the wall and a gag fit tightly in his mouth. Airbending while not impossible was incredibly difficult, and bounds were too tight for him to escape. He wanted to scream, and so he did. A pair of ears listened to the muffled sound. He shook his head before he entered

:)

Zuko silently sipped his tea as he studied the ancient artifacts that the boy had on his person. Several different types of seed, fruits, and nuts that only grew up in the high elevations of the air temples, Zuko ignored them for the much more interesting item that the boy had. His staff. Zuko studied it in detail noting everything from its polished (albeit very well used) state. He found the slot for the extension of the wings and tail. Iroh opened the door and walked in with a new pot of fresh tea. Zuko glanced at him thankfully, Iroh sat and poured himself a cup and looked at his nephew. "I'm surprised; you haven't gone to see the Airbender." The retired general spoke.

Zuko lightly pressed against an indention in the wood causing it's appendages to extend. "Genius, a focus to make their bending even stronger, truly something that could have made them deadly, but they were too pacifistic." He said in awe. "How is it that the Airbenders are the only culture to do such a thing?" the prince examined the structure of the wings.

"Possibly because they never placed resources into war defenses" Iroh speculated in a rare moment of seriousness. Zuko nodded in agreement as he moved to grab a large sheet of parchment and his brush and ink. "The Airbender, Prince Zuko!" Iroh said his voice rising slightly. Zuko's motions froze.

"I am no prince." Zuko rebuked him slowly.

"That birthright is still yours."

"No…no it's not." Prince Zuko whispered his voice far too low for his aged uncle to hear "It never was." Zuko turned and faced his uncle his composure resurfacing. "As for the Airbender, there is no reason to speak with him. He is sufficiently bound and bending would be far too difficult for him to use to escape before we can reach the Fire Nation."

Iroh's eyes narrowed "Who are you doing this for Zuko? Ozai?" Zuko's eyes flashed in anger for the first time in a very long time.

"The only thing I'd do for that man is tear his heart out of his chest." Zuko Snarled.

"Your sister then?"

Zuko grew silent. "I've never heard you recognize her as your niece." He questioned "she is your closest relative minus Ozai, yet you never acknowledge it." He approached the doorway. Iroh focused his gaze on the young firebender. "But I'm your nephew when I'm not even related to you." Then Zuko shut the door, not willing to look at Iroh's expression

:)

Zuko entered his room and sat lightly at the small shrine. He sat silently and breathed. Small sparks appeared near each wick and lit it up in small but constant flame. Zuko smiled lightly as they thrummed in time with his breath. For an hour he sat there until the candles shrunk drastically. His eyes opened and the candles flickered out. He moved to his desk and began a letter in quick but neat script. Then the ship rocked knocking the prince out of his chair into the nearest iron wall. His head struck the solid iron and his vision swayed for a moment before he was able to jump up and run out of the room. A single announcement rang through the vessel "The avatar is attempting to escape and a creature has landed on the deck!"

:)

Aang flew down the constricting halls of the Fire Nation battle ship. Armored guards pursued him, but Aang was too fast. A group appeared in front of him in an attempt to block him off from his escape. He jumped from the air scooter letting it rush down the hall and like a group bowling ball pins being struck were knocked aside and crashed against the hallway walls.

Behind him the group didn't slow down in the least. Aang slid to a halt before forcing a blast of hair down the hall in a tumultuous gale sending the group down the hall and out of sight. Aang rushed down the hall looking for the room he knew his staff would be inside. He slammed the door open and rushed inside seeing his staff laying lightly upon a small stone table. He rushed forward and grabbed it quickly not noticing the oncoming fist. Aang tumbled into the wall. "Ah!" He yelled. Zuko stood over him with fury in his eyes. "How did you get out!"


	5. Escape

It was dark as the prince entered his sister's room. The moon roamed the sky casting a dim light through the room's darkness. Azula sat up quickly seeing her brother. "What are you doing here Zuzu?" She said "Been in the library all night." Zuko said nothing and silently dragged himself towards the edge of her bed and sat in silence. She narrowed her eyes at him "Fine, don't talk to me." She exclaimed hoping to goad him into talking and lied back down under the sheets, but still he said nothing. Seconds passed, then minutes, then an hour, until finally Azula heard the sound of a drawing open next to her bed and a dull thunk of an object was placed inside. Zuko left.

As soon as the door closed Azula waited until she knew he had left and jumped from the bed to search the drawer. She lit a small flame and pure blue washed over the room and within the drawer lay a two items. A small thin headpiece with a gold flame emblem placed upon the rim and a note with two very simple, but profound words scratched onto it. 'Take it.'

In the morning when the two siblings saw each other, not a word of what had occurred the night before was spoken nor was it spoken of again, but it was not forgotten.

:)

Heat filled the room and waves as the young prince's rage filled the room causing the latent terror in Aang's chest to spring up. His face burned from the prince's strike. It took everything in him not to grab the side of his face and ebb the sensation; instead to stand and face the prince. "How did you get out?!" Aang ignored him and sent a blast of compressed air at the prince. Immediately he raised his arms and blocked the powerful blast that sent him skidding across the floor. A low moan resonated from the floors as the prince slid across its surface, but he did not fall. Zuko snarled and rushed the young avatar. Aang reacted moving the air to knock him aside, but the prince rolled barely dodging the move. Zuko's weight rolled and he took advantage. Feet hit the floor and the prince was airborne flying towards the boy. His body turned and his foot crashed against flesh and bone. Aangs body collided with the floor and slid. Zuko snarled and fire flew from his nostrils as he approached the boy, balled up in the floor.

His hand wrapped around his neck. Frustration marred his features as he slid him up the iron wall. Aang grit his teeth as he felt the fire hot touch around his throat. "I'll repeat myself. How. Did. You. Get. Out?" Zuko growled out; Aang was silent. "Well I asked nicely" then he lifted his hand and fire circled it.

The door behind him opened and an old gravelly voice echoed out as Iroh stepped into the room. "Prince Zuko, are you in-" Zuko's grip loosened at the sound and Aang took his chance. He thrust his palm out knocking the prince away and barreling towards his uncle before the two crashed into the opposite wall. Aang rushed past the heap of bodies and fled down the hall. Zuko grunted as he untangled himself from his uncle and gave chase.

:)

The door to the observation deck flew open as the avatar jumped through and rushed for the window. Several firebenders noticed him and immediately sent blast and waves of fire towards him, but the boy immediately filled the room with air and brushing the flames aside. The window shattered and he couldn't help but smile as he realized he was free. His staffs wings extended and he flew. Until an expected weight knocked him off balance and they went careening downwards.

Aang grunted when he struck the ground as did the prince when he was thrown off the glider. The two shakily stood both glaring down the other. Zuko glared and heat seared the air; Aang stared fear well hidden, but present all the same. Both stood for a moment a face off; nobility against spirit. Then suddenly a dull crash knocking the off balance for merely a moment as the furry form of an enraged Appa growled as the wind whirled around on his back were two water tribe members, determination brimming in their eyes. Zuko's balance was lost and he fell, but the airbender's agility saved him and he ran for his friend's intent on escaping.

He ran at the speed of the wind, but something was wrong. The air around him seared as the heat suddenly appeared and then the air ignited around him in a dome of terrifying fire. Aang moved to send a bullet of air to make an escape, but the air died quickly as the fire consumed it. The heat consumed the air and Aang felt his ability to breathe less quickly and terror grip him.

:)

Zuko stood outside the down several feet away. The members of the military stared in awe. Zuko's head whipped to the side and glared. "Don't just stand there kill and the bison and its riders!" He yelled. Then the battalion rushed forward towards the growling beast. Each entered a stance ready to unleash fire on the beast. It growled enraged and air whipped knocking several over.

Then Zuko's dome of fire was blown away as the glowing eyes of the avatar pierced it. It was like an explosion as Zuko flew across the surface of the deck and slid. Zuko stood his rage replaced by wary fear. Aang's snapped back and he glared at the troops surrounding his bison and with nary a flick sent them screaming, off the side of the ship. Zuko rushed forwards intent on ending the avatar. The icebergs surrounding the ship cracked as the avatar's fury saturated the atmosphere. The ice fell covering most of the ship. Zuko glanced up and his eyes widened as fear gripped him. Fire surrounded him as it crashed submerging him in the snow.

Aang collapsed in a heap, barely getting caught by Katara. "Aang are you okay?" She asked worried.

"Everything hurts" He replied. "Can you get my staff?" Sokka nodded as he avoided looking at the bloody raw side of the boy's face and he rushed to get the staff and brought it back.

"We need to get out of here." He told them. Katara looked up.

"Where do we go? Aang needs healing." She declared.

"Aang has a map; we'll figure it out when we aren't in danger." By this point fire nation navy men flooded out from below deck. The trio fled for the bison and with a quick call of 'yip, yip' they were flying far away from the iron vessel and its homicidal prince. Moments later Zuko's fist burst out of the thick ice. Steam rushed off his fist and then he pulled his body up a moment later through his self-made crevice. His turned to look at the soldiers.

"Quickly, get the men out of the water." He commanded "And bring any surplus fuel and bring it to the deck." The soldiers immediately moved to follow his orders. "Next time I catch that kid" Zuko said to himself "I'm braking his legs."


End file.
